The Snaking Peloton: 1951 Tour de France from Bert Hardy

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Before Graham Watson, there was British photographer Bert Hardy, known particularly for his personality-filled street photographs of Tour spectators. Here Hardy captured the riders snaking up the switchbacks of the Col du Tourmalet, the highest pass in the Pyrenees, during the 1951 Tour.

This photograph celebrating the history of the Tour de France is one of 250 rare and restored photographs from the new book Tour de France 100, which is featured this June and July in your local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Please visit tomorrow morning to see a new image from the history of the Tour de France.

The Tour de France, first staged in 1903, is the world’s greatest sports spectacle, packed with heart-stopping drama, legendary rivalries, bitter tragedy, and outright farce. To celebrate the 100th Tour de France, award-winning author Richard Moore has researched Tour de France 100, a superb celebration in photographs and stories about the world’s greatest race.

All images on this website published by VeloPress with permission of their copyright holders, including but not limited to Getty Images, Agence France Presse, L’Equipe, Gamma-Keystone, Pressesports, and Gamma-Rapho.